


Through Some Magic Goggles -- A Carapace Story

by bex_terity



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: ;)))))), Adrino (kinda), Alyanette (kinda), Chloe Bourgeois is a lesbian, DJwifi Love Square, ENJOY IT, Jade Turtle Nino Lahiffe, Miraculous Holder Nino Lahiffe, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Multi, Nino Lahiffe Knows, Swearing, Through Some Magic Goggles, an au where chloe doesn't reveal her identity to the entirety of paris, because I wrote it, bees guys, but also fulla memes, but dont worry i have some good angst planned, but its fine, but its ok, cuz shes queen bee, guys this first chapter alone, hahhaha les-bee-an, i did not like how they handled that so i changed it, i kinda want to die because carapace literally says lets get this bread, im cryin;;;;;, it took two months, its all fine i guess, nobody is straight, queen bee is a lesbian icon, so please just...., some kinda unintentional adrino that i didn't realize until my friend pointed it out, the power of fanfic guys, then rewrote it, then rewrote it again, this story is taking so long, throggles, tsmg, whoops accidental gay, wowie chapter 3 is angsty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-07-05 06:53:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15858474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bex_terity/pseuds/bex_terity
Summary: When an akuma attacks, Nino expects the usual: someone gets pissed, goes evil, Ladybug and Chat Noir save the day. This time, the akuma hit Ladybug’s kwami (whatever that means), and so they need someone who can cure the city. When Chat comes to Nino in the superhero gang’s time of need, Nino gladly accepts. After first transforming, he realizes that his powers are a bit… different. Can he help save the day without letting the Adrien out of the bag?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter alone took me two months of writing, then rewriting, then rewriting the rewrite. Now I hate myself but uhhhh hope you enjoy lmao  
> Also this is written in limited 3rd person, so when reading, you know Nino’s thoughts and stuff

Nino sighed. Another akuma just had to strike on the day where he had gotten 2 hours of sleep the night before.  _ If I ever find out who Hawkmoth is, I’m gonna kick his ass for this. _ Nino shuffled over to Alya’s locker and began with a sigh.

“Alya, I’m so tired, I—“ he stopped. Alya wasn’t there. But that didn’t make sense, she always went to her locker after an akuma hit to grab her “akuma hunting supplies.” If she wasn’t here, then where was she?

On an entirely unrelated note, Nino noticed a flash of orange outside and turned to face the window. It was Rena Rouge, Paris’s newest superhero, jumping across the rooftops. Nino could have sworn that she slowed down for a second and winked at him, but he didn’t have enough time to process it before she continued on her way. He took her departure as a sign to get on his way.

As soon as he stepped outside, he was drenched. A thunderstorm.  _ Great _ . Nino sighed and began his now rainy hike home. Just as he started, he was stopped by a certain leather-clad hero jumping in front of him.

“Chat Noir? What are you doing here?”

Chat Noir’s face radiated panic. “Hey! You’re Nino, right? There’s a lot happening, and this is going to sound weird, but…” Chat turned and squatted, throwing his hands behind him. “Get on. I’ll explain in a second.”

“But—“ a crash. Nino’s eyes widened, and he nodded. “Okay, all aboard the Chat Noir train.”

* * *

Chat Noir touched down in the alleyway, and Nino got off of his back.

“So, what’s up?” Nino asked, his head cocked to the side.

“Well…” Chat sighed. “Right now, Ladybug is out of commission—she can’t transform. Problem is, we need her to cure the akuma and do the fixey-uppey magic thing. So, the solution is to get another superhero on the team with those powers. For that…” Chat Noir pulled an ornate, octagonal box from his pocket and held it out to Nino. “...the turtle miraculous. Wanna join the team?”

Nino thought for a second, then shrugged. “Sure. What’s the worst that could happen?” At this, Chat’s smile twitched a bit, but Nino didn’t notice. He simply grabbed the box from the hero’s hand and took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

As soon as the box opened, an orb of green light appeared. The orb flew to Nino’s face, as if inspecting it, then proceeded to glide back and fade. In the orb’s place was a—a, uh… What was that?

“Hello!” The creature (?) grinned. “I’m Wayzz, kwami of the Turtle of Wisdom. If you could put the bracelet on, that would be greatly appreciated.”

Nino stared in dumbfounded shock.  _ Holy shit, it—he? Can talk. _ “Uh, yeah, I can do that.” Chat grinned as Nino pulled the bracelet over his hand and it morphed to fit. “Dude…”

Wayzz chuckled. “‘Dude’ indeed, young one. If I may ask, what is your name?”

Nino blinked. “Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you. Nino Lahiffe, DJ and apparently now a superhero.”

Chat snickered. “Yeah, not like you just met a literal god that gets sucked into your bracelet and turns you into a superhero with actual magic powers!”

Nino laughed. “Stop making fun of me! This is a  _ very _ new experience!” He cleared his throat and turned to Wayzz. “Um, okay. How do I… get superhero’d?”

“Transform? Well, I’ll explain all of your powers later, but for now, just say ‘Wayzz, shell up!’ Understand?”

“Yeah, okay, uh… Wayzz… shell up?” As the last word left his mouth, Nino felt a wave of energy run over him, and he could see its effects clearly. His cap morphed into a hood, his glasses shifted into goggles, and he felt a weight on his shoulders that he somehow knew was a shield. Nino’s vision changed at once.

In the bottom-right of his vision he spotted a green bar with the word Carapace next to it. On his left, an exclamation mark encompassed by a red circle appeared.  _ Holy shit, is this a video game? _

The new hero looked up at Chat Noir, and what he saw changed his life. It appeared to be a character profile, with stats and all.

**Chat Noir**

**Real Name: Adrien Agreste**

**Miraculous: Cat of Destruction**

**Attack: 21**

**Defense: 9**

**Luck: 87%**

**Health: 28**

**Knowledge: 61%**

**Magic: 5**

“Nino?” Chat interrupted. “You okay?”

“Oh…” he looked up. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.”  _ Cool, my best friend is Chat Noir. What’s next, Hawkmoth is his dad?  _ **(A/N: hehehehehheHEHEHEH)**

“Good. Have you thought of a name?”

Nino thought, and looked to the green bar. “Carapace?”

Chat nodded, a grin sneaking onto his face. “I like it! Creative. But now’s not the time for me to critique your name choice, we have an akuma to capture.”

* * *

Carapace and Chat Noir soared across rooftops, Carapace gliding on his shield and Chat Noir vaulting with his staff.

“Y’know, that looks pretty tiring,” Carapace offered.

“Ya think?” Chat retorted, obviously having a difficult time. “This is not fair, you get a cool hoverboard-thing and I have to compete in the Olympics to get from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre.” At this, Carapace burst out laughing.

**_You’re doing a great job,_ ** Wayzz spoke into Nino’s mind.  **_When you’re ready to get off, you can jump and call the shield to your arm._ **

_ Oh? Worm? _

_**What does that mean?** _

_ Uhh... I’ll explain later. _

“Here we are,” Chat sighed. “Welcome to today’s battlefield.” Thunder rumbled from above, and the clouds poured down rain and insults.

The akuma was a girl, about 15, and floated gracefully on a storm cloud as she shot lightning down upon those who tried to stop her. When Carapace saw who she was shooting at, he almost threw up.

**Rena Rouge**

**Real Name: Alya Cesaire**

**Miraculous: Fox of Illusion**

**Attack: 20**

**Defense: 13**

**Luck: 74%**

**Health: 26**

**Knowledge: 82%**

**Magic: 7**

Carapace zoomed off towards the akuma, not saying a word. He had to help Alya, even if it was the last thing he did.

“Carapace! Wait!” Chat Noir shouted before following behind. “What are you doing?”

“Chat, I have to help her!”

“Of course you do, but we need a plan!”

With this, Carapace stopped.  _ He’s right. We do need a plan. _

**_If I may,_ ** Wayzz spoke (?),  **_using your goggles, you can see the object where the akuma is hidden. It will be highlighted for you in your vision._ **

Carapace nodded, and tried focusing on the akuma.  _ There _ . The villain’s sheer cloak was surrounded by a glowing gold outline, informing Carapace that this was indeed where the akuma had hit.

**_Good job! You’re doing wonderfully._ **

_ Thanks, buddy. Now we gotta help Alya. _ With this, Carapace turned to Chat Noir. “The akuma is in her cloak, but be careful. The cloak makes fog that can uh… ‘fog up’ your thoughts, so just... plug your ears?”

Chat nodded. “All of our weapons have an ear-bud in them for communicating, so if I use that, one ear will be blocked.”

**_You have an ear-bud as well. Plagg and I can mute the audio that comes from them, and you can give your ear-bud to Chat._ **

_ You took the words right out of my mouth— or brain? I don’t know. _

“Chat, I have an idea. Well, Wayzz had an idea. Apparently the kwamis can mute the audio that come from the ear-buds, so I can give you my ear-bud and you can have both ears blocked. That should make it so that you can get close to her safely.” Carapace grinned, and handed Chat his ear-bud. “Good luck out there.” Chat smiled and gave Nino a thumbs up before vaulting closer to the akuma. Carapace got back onto his shield and zipped over to Rena Rouge.

As Carapace got over there, Rena Rouge was panting, having just been hit. She turned to him and smirked. “Hey, who’re you?”

“Carapace, newest addition to the team.” Carapace smiled and pointed to his bracelet, proving he was truly one of the heroes. “Nice to meet you. You doin’ okay?”

The akuma cleared her throat. “A-hem! I’m trying to make you feel your worst fears and also a lot of pain! Can we stop the chit-chat?” The girl’s gray hair tied in a bun seemed to resemble a storm cloud like the one she was riding on.

Carapace looked up to face the girl. “Boo! What a rip off!” He nudged Rena, signaling her to join in.

“Yeah! We already had Stormy Weather, this is just dumb.”

The akuma was taken aback. “I’m not a rip-off! She was snow storm based, I use thunderstorms! And either way, my name isn’t Stormy Weather. It’s Brainstorm.”

Carapace looked up to the girl and saw Chat behind her, almost at the cloak. He continued. “Even your name is a rip off. Brainstorm? Stormy Weather? Yeah, those are the same thing.”

Brainstorm was visibly angry now. “I’m not a rip off! I have creative and original ideas! You can’t prove otherwise!”

Rena Rouge smirked. “Hey Hawkmoth!” she shouted into the sky, “You’re so lame you can’t even think of new ideas for akumas! Get down here and face us!” With this, Hawkmoth’s symbol appeared in front of Brainstorm’s face, and Brainstorm seemed to be listening intently.

She nodded, and the symbol vanished. “Well, Hawkmoth says that you guys are lame! What about that, huh?” Brainstorm thought for a second, then a look of fear washed over her. “Wow, Hawkmoth isn’t very creative. I just called Paris’s heroes lame. I’m really sorry, gu--” With that, Chat Noir snatched her cloak and it crumbled into several pieces.  _ He must have used Cataclysm. _

Carapace ran over to where the butterfly was and trapped it under his shield.  _ What do we do now? _

**_There’s something that you’re able to do that will mimic the Miraculous Cure of Ladybug. Look at your tool belt, there is an orb there. Toss the orb into the sky, and everything will be healed. You actually have orbs that mimic the powers of all of the Miraculous, and that is the power of the turtle. It will begin your 5-minute timer._ **

Chat Noir and Rena Rouge approached Carapace. “So what now?” Rena asked, visibly concerned. “If Ladybug isn’t here, then how do we cure the city? And the akuma?”

Carapace gulped. “Well, Wayzz just told me that I can mimic everyone’s powers, so I can probably do the miraculous cure right here.” He pulled an orb off of his tool belt, and stared in wonder as Ladybug’s logo glowed onto it in a soft green. He nodded, and tossed the orb into the sky, where it exploded in a burst of green light and washed over the city like tidal waves.

Chat and Rena Rouge stared in awe before Rena walked over to Carapace, setting a hand on his shoulder. “That looks amazing.”

Carapace nodded. “I had no idea it would be this... beautiful.”

One of Chat’s cat ears twitched, and he looked to his left. “Oh!” To everyone’s surprise, Ladybug was now on the scene, her yo-yo creating a sound like a zipper.

She landed on the ground, striking a pose, and turned to the newest member of the team. “Hello, who are you?”

Chat grinned and stepped up. “Well, m’Ladybug, let me introduce you to our newest team member, Carapace.”

“Pleasure to meet you.” At that moment, Carapace’s vision changed to Ladybug’s profile.

**Ladybug**

**Real Name: Marinette Dupain-Cheng**

**Miraculous: Ladybug of Creation**

**Attack: 23**

**Defense: 17**

**Luck: 62%**

**Health: 29**

**Knowledge: 68%**

**Magic: 4**

_ Okay, this confirms it. All of my friends are superheroes. _ Carapace maintained a pleasant expression, and Ladybug smiled, shaking his hand.

She turned to face the entire team. “Great work out there, everyone. I’m sorry I couldn’t make it, my kwami was pretty affected by this round. Where’s the akuma?” Chat and Rena turned to Carapace, and her vision followed.

“It’s under my shield. Here...” Carapace walked a few steps to get to his shield and lifted the rim to reveal the corrupted akuma.

“Nice work!” Ladybug enthused. “If you could step back now, I’m going to purify it.”

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Carapace followed Ladybug’s directions and as she purified the akuma, he decided that this was the perfect time to have a crisis.

_ Okay so all of my friends are superheroes that could be violently murdered by magic fucking SUPERVILLAINS made by some 40-something-year-old guy who wants to be evil or something. Sure, fine, that’s fine. Super understandable. _

**Beep beep beep beep.** Carapace’s miraculous shook him from his internal screaming, signaling that he only had four minutes left.

“Hey, Donatello, let’s head on out,” Chat suggested.

Carapace grinned. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” He turned to Ladybug and Rena Rouge, and saluted. “I’ll see you guys soon.”  _ Yeah, in a few minutes back at school. _

“See ya, Shelly,” Rena waved as Carapace and Chat departed on their respective modes of transport.

Through the two minutes it took to get back to the alley, Chat and Carapace spoke the entire time about various topics that they both enjoyed, Carapace leading the conversation with things he knew appealed to Adrien.

“So, what’s your opinion on fencing?” Carapace asked at one point. “I have a friend who fences, and you always look like you’re pretty proficient in the ways of fighting with sword-type things during akuma attacks.”

Chat’s eyes widened, and there was a tinge of blush on his face. “It looks pretty fun, but I’ve never done it myself. I’d love to, but my schedule’s already pretty packed with school and being a superhero and all.”

Carapace grimaced. “Oof, my schedule’s gonna be loaded.”

The two boys landed in the alley, and another beep came from Carapace’s miraculous as his transformation faded. He was back to Nino.

Chat held out his fist, and smiled. “You did a great job out there, man.”

Nino grinned back, and gifted Chat Noir with a glorious fist bump. “You weren’t too bad yourself.”  _ I should tell him. I should tell him that I know who he is. _ “Hey, uh, Chat?”

The hero turned. “Yeah?”

Nino gulped and began to feel anxious.  _ Here we go. _ “So, um, I kinda… today, I uh… found out… your… identity?”

Chat seemed just as nervous. “Well, uh, who… do you think I am?”

Nino sighed, and prepared to sound crazy. “Okay, so while I’m transformed, the goggles act as basically, a… VR headset, I guess, so everything around me turns into like… a video game. For real! I see character profiles, I have a health bar, and I have side-quests. So, um, basically, I saw your character profile, it has your name on it. I’m pretty positive that I’m right.”

Chat nodded. “Not gonna lie, Nino, that sounds pretty awesome. But you’re still stressing me out, who do you think—er, know, I am? I need to make sure you’re right so I don’t accidentally blow my cover if you’re wrong.”

“… Adrien?” Nino began to panic.  _ Oh no what if I’m wrong this sucks I’m the worst I’m a terrible perso--  _ his thoughts were interrupted by a soft chuckle.

“Well, you got me.” Chat smiled sadly. He inhaled, then firmly proclaimed, “Plagg, claws in.”

* * *

In front of Nino stood a softly smiling Adrien Agreste and a midnight-black kwami who seemed like an asshole.

“Jeez, now I feel really bad,” Nino admitted, looking down at the ground. “I know the identities are super important to you guys, but if I held it in for any longer--”

“No no no!” Adrien waved his hands around as if clearing the air. “No, it’s fine! I’m just relieved, that’s all. I’ve been wanting to tell you since I first got the miraculous, but I couldn’t since it would put you in danger. Now that you’re in just as much danger as I am, well…” he did that thing he does where he grabs the back of his neck and blushes. “... it didn’t really apply anymore.”

Nino sighed with relief. “I was freaking out, man. Just seeing my best bud, my pure little angel who can do no wrong, be a superhero. That was… kinda terrifying.”

Adrien giggled. “It was the same thing with you, today! My mind was just showing me you getting zapped by that lightning over and over… but I knew you would do a good job.”

Wayzz zipped up between the two. “If I may interrupt, I believe that you have both handled this situation very responsibly, and I’d just like to say that I’m proud of you two.”

Plagg floated over to where Wayzz sat in mid-air. “Yeah, yeah, mushy gushy to you too, kids.” The cat flew over to where Nino stood. “By the way, I’m Plagg, Adrien’s kwami. If you want to get on my good side, well, you don’t need to, you’re already there. You’re a good kid, Nino. I watched.”

“Um…” Nino gulped. “Sorry, let me double check real quick, did you just say you  _ watched _ ? What exactly did you... watch?”

Plagg grinned a mischievous grin, akin to the Cheshire Cat. “Everything, Nino. I watched everything.” A second passed before Plagg started laughing. “I’m just messin’ with ya, hat boy. I listened in every once-in-a-while, and you’re a super nice guy. Thanks for hangin’ out with Adrien for me. Keep doin’ it.”

“He’s right for once!” Adrien exclaimed. “You are a super nice guy.”

Nino snorted. “Stooooop.”

“No, you are! It’s the truth!”

“Noooo! You know I don’t know how to respond to compliments!”

“Ah, au contraire, this isn’t a compliment. This is a scientifically proven fact.” Adrien and Nino laughed, and the kwamis joined in. “Well, I’m glad that if anyone was to find out my identity, it’s you.”

“Yeah, I’m glad my new partners in crime fighting are my friends.” Nino realized what he said and clapped a hand over his mouth. “I MEAN UHHHH-- SINGULAR. FRIEND.”

Adrien’s eyes narrowed. “You know who Ladybug and Rena Rouge are.” He smirked. “You know them, too!”

Nino looked around cautiously and put a finger to his lips. “Shh! But… yeah, I do, and I’m not telling.”

Adrien held his hands up in an act of surrender. “Hey, I’m not gonna ask! Just make sure you put in a good word for me when you see Ladybug, okay?”

Nino nodded. “Yeah, sure. Oh, and I’ve been meaning to ask you this, but why would you call her ‘m’lady?’ That’s, like, the most cursed phrase I can think of.”

Adrien snorted. “‘The most cursed phrase.’ Got it. I think it’s funny, since it’s just so cursed, and it annoys Ladybug. In a good way, though!”

Nino sighed with a smile on his face. “Whatever you say.” The boy checked his watch, and frowned. “We should probably head back to school now, but it’s only a block away, so… that’s good.”

“What, you don’t want another Chat Noir piggy-back ride?”

“OH MY GOD, Shut up!” 

The two boys laughed together all the way back to the school, and Nino knew that they would be sticking together through thick and thin.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Kidz have some school shenanigans, some talk about the new hero, and a reveal. Be sure to look out for that sweet sweet foreshadowing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i did it  
> the second chapter  
> done
> 
> so this chap is shorter than the last one because uhhh i didn't spend two months on this more like two weeks so  
> im working on chapter 3 now, and it's coming along well, but if you want to help me edit + beta read + enjoy the story early, send me a message on tumblr. my @ is the same as on here but a dash instead of an underscore (bex-terity)

The school day had gone just fine after the akuma attack, except for one thing:

Nino wasn’t sure if he could keep his identity a secret.

Everyone in the classroom was murmuring about, “Oh, did you see the new superhero?” and, “Did you see the new hero? He looks cool!” With every single remark, Nino could feel his face warm and turn red out of embarrassment.

“Hey, DJ!” Alya exclaimed, wrapping her arm around Nino’s shoulders. “Where you been?”

“O-oh, I uh...” Nino panicked. He hadn’t thought of an excuse yet. His brain taunted him to just do it and tell her that he was a freakin’  _ superhero. Hey babe, you know how you admire Ladybug so much? Turns out she’s been sitting next to you in class. Also, we just saw each other like ten minutes ago. You were there, because  _ you’re _ a superhero, too. _

“Sorry we’re late, guys!” Adrien spoke, saving Nino once again from a difficult situation.  _ Guys? _ Nino thought, before realizing that Marinette had walked up just seconds earlier. “We got trapped behind some rubble by the akuma, but from what we were able to see, it was a tough battle out there.”

Marinette blushed. “Yeah, it seemed like Ladybug was in a bit of a pickle there.”

Alya squinted at Marinette. “Ladybug wasn’t there until the end, how would you know Ladybug was having a situation?”

Nino looked over at Marinette, who now seemed visibly panicked. Nino decided to step in. “Well, y’know, we know Ladybug’s character. She wouldn’t just  _ not _ show up unless there was something bad happening.”

Alya shrugged, and sighed. “Yeah, that makes sense. I think while I was recording, I heard Rena Rouge say something about Ladybug telling her about her uhhh… what was it… a quapi?”

“I think it’s pronounced ‘kwami,’” Adrien offered. “I heard Chat Noir say something about it, and based on what I heard, they can’t transform without them.”

Nino had to hold himself back from laughing.  _ You guys are all idiots. All of you! Idiots! Jesus, just tell each other already. _

“Yeah, I uh, heard the same thing, from that new hero, talked about his kwami,” Nino responded, about to burst from laughing. “He seems like a cool dude.”

This time, Adrien was the one to laugh. “He really does! He kinda seems like a dork, too, though. Like, just the way he teased Brainstorm, the akuma? That was absolute dork behavior.”

Marinette giggled. “Well, he may be a dork, but he’s a powerful dork. Come on, he was able to mimic Ladybug’s powers and make it so she could transform and get over there! That’s awesome!”

Alya elbowed Nino with a grin on her face. “He sure is a dork, alright. But what was his name again? I didn’t catch it.”

Nino grinned mischievously. “Uhh, I’m not sure. Adrien, did you catch it?”

Adrien feigned confusion. “Hmm, I think I might have. It’s something scientific, something that starts with ‘C’...”

Marinette deadpanned. “Guys, he introduced himself like, twice in the live feed. His name is Carapace.”

Nino smiled. “Yeah, what a cool dude, has a hover-board shield thing.”

“Dork.”

“Adrien, I say this with love, but  _ please... _ shut the fuck up.” Nino grinned, and Adrien laughed. At that moment, the school bell rang, and the four students walked to the classroom together.

“Hello again, students,” Ms. Bustier greeted the class as they walked in and plopped back into their seats. “We’re going to take the rest of the day a little easy, since there was an akuma attack, so pull out your English textbooks and just do questions one through seven.” There was a shuffling of papers and a murmur among the students. “Oh!” Ms. Bustier added, smiling sweetly, “By the way, class, you can work together on this, just don’t get too loud. I’ll be grading your quizzes from the other day while you work. When you’re finished, you can get on your phones, listen to music, whatever.” The murmur grew into speaking, and the speaking grew into slightly louder speaking.

Nino flew through the problems, bopping his head to the beat of his studying playlist (it was the same song on repeat), and found himself finished within 15 minutes. He pumped his fist and turned to Adrien. “Yo, Adrien, I just finished.”

“Whaat?” Adrien groaned. “Okay, that’s not possible. I’m on question four, and I’ve been stuck for like, 3 minutes straight.”

Nino grinned mischievously. “Did I ever tell you that I’m multilingual? French, English and Arabic, my friend.”

Adrien smiled. “First of all, super cool. Second of all,  _ totally unfair! _ How can you speak 3 languages?”

Nino shrugged. “My family’s from all over. Mostly Morocco, but then we spent a year or two in Canada when I was 7 and I learned French and English there.”

Adrien just stared with a  _ very  _ stupid smile on his face. “Dude… that’s awesome.”

“Yeah, it is,” Nino agreed, then an idea popped into his head. He turned to Alya. “Hey, Al, are you free after school?”

“Yeah, why?” She seemed inquisitive now, as if she wanted to guess his reasoning.

“Oh, no reason.” Nino turned back to Adrien. “I’m gonna tell her about my uh… ‘pet turtle.’ It’s okay, I know she can keep it secret.”

“Your… pet turtle?” Adrien shrugged, in a way that seemed to mean  _ what the fuck are you talking about? _

“Y’know, my  _ pet turtle _ . I named him Wayzz, remember?”

Marinette coughed at hearing the turtle’s name, but nobody really noticed.

Adrien’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

Nino nodded solemnly. “I’m sure.”

Alya leaned over from where she was sitting. “No offense, Nino, but what’s so special about a turtle that you have to tell me after school?”

Nino waved the question away with his hand. “You’ll see, I promise. Just… promise not to freak out?”

Alya nodded. “Turtles don’t scare me, DJ.”

“Just… promise.”

Alya’s eyebrows lowered, and her smirk melted into a frown. “Damn, this sounds serious. Uhh, I promise I won’t freak out, I guess?”

Nino breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Al.”

Marinette cleared her throat. “Hey, does anyone want to go out for lunch tomorrow? It would be called off if an akuma attacked just then, but if one does, then we can reschedule.”

Adrien grinned. “I’d love that, Marinette! It sounds like a good time!”

Marinette blushed profusely, and her mouth moved with no actual words coming out.

“We could always go to that sandwich shop down the street,” Nino offered.

Alya pointed at Nino. “You frickin’ mind-reader! I was thinking the same thing!”

“Oh, were you now? Well, your idea is mine now. Trademarked and copyrighted,” Nino joked around. He loved this dynamic between him and the reporter, they could always joke around, but always knew the other’s limits. “We Could Always Go To That Sandwich Shop Down The Street TM. It’s official.”

“Who managed this trademark and copyrighting process? Because that’s a pretty stupid trademark,” Alya teased as she leaned forward, crossing her arms.

“Adrien did.”

“What?” the mentioned boy looked up from his phone. “What did I do?”

Nino turned to Adrien and quickly explained. “You managed the trademarking and copyrighting of the phrase ‘we could always go to that sandwich shop down the street.’”

“...no offense, Nino, but that’s the worst trademark I’ve ever heard.”

The bell rang, signifying the end of the school day, and Nino gulped.  _ Time to tell her. _

Opening his locker, Nino stared at his books before speaking. “Wayzz...”

Upon hearing his name, the kwami zipped out from under Nino’s hat. “Yes, Nino?”

“Wayzz, I’m really worried that… she’s not gonna think of me in the same light any more. And… with the goggles, I know she’s Rena, but I still… it’s weird. And I’m nervous.”

Wayzz contemplated for a second. “Well, you two are very close, and have a very energetic relationship. I think that she will still love you as she does now, or maybe even more. You simply have to trust your instinct.”

Just after, Alya opened her locker, causing Nino to jump and Wayzz to zip into his bag. “Hey, DJ, are you showing me your turtle today?”

Nino smirked. “That sounds like a euphemism.”

Alya sighed, mocking disappointment. “Wow, Nino.”

“Yeah.” Nino gulped and began to blush. “So, uh, turtle time, right?”

“Yeah.”

Nino nodded. “Yeah.”

* * *

Shoulder to shoulder, Nino and Alya made their way to the park by College Francois Dupont.  _ Oof, _ Nino thought.  _ I’m not sure if I’m ready for this-- wait. No, I told myself, and I already brought Alya here. She’s a hero too, she won’t be angry. I hope not, at least. It should be fine. _

“Sooo...” Alya began. “...you have a turtle now?”

Nino’s chest felt tight, as if someone was squeezing his heart and forcing it underwater to drown. “Well, actually, it’s kinda like that, and also kinda not.” Nino took a deep breath. “Y’know that new superhero dude? The turtle one?”

Alya nodded. “Yeah…”

“Well...” Nino did some  _ very  _ awkward jazz hands and announced, “guess who?”

Alya doubled over laughing. “Ha! Oh my gosh, dude! Really? ‘Guess who?’” Her laughter gradually died before she explained, “Nino, I already knew.”

“You… did?”  _ Oh no, was I obvious? How can she tell? How does she know? _

“Yeah, so… I’m Rena Rouge. A master of illusion can see through the best ones.”

“Oh, I already knew about the whole… you’re Rena Rouge thing.”

This time, Alya was shocked. “You  _ did?!  _ How?”

“Well...” Nino began to explain his powers. “You know how in video games, you can see character profiles if you look at someone? And there’s a health bar for them and for you, and you can see background on the character and stuff?”

“Yeah?”

“I see that through the goggles.”

“Woah!” Alya’s eyes lit up in curiosity and wonder. “That’s awesome! So does it just kinda… become a video game?”

“… Kinda? I’m not sure how to explain it, the profiles float next to someone, and I can minimize them, but I can still see the person’s name, and I have a quest menu. And a health bar. Just… imagine the different menus and options, just overlayed on top of everyday life.”

“Huh. Wait! You said your pet turtle was named Wayzz, so is that--” Alya’s bag rustled, and out flew a small… fox?

“Wayzz! Wayzz!”  _ Oh! A kwami! _

Wayzz exited his bag and tackled the fox kwami with a big hug. “Oh, Trixx! Lovely to see you!”

Nino grinned. “Well, Alya, meet Wayzz. He’s my kwami.”

Wayzz composed himself and smiled to Alya. “A pleasure! You seem like a very nice girl.”

Alya blushed a little, then stuck her finger out for a handshake. “Nice to meet you, too, Wayzz! You seem like a cool kwami.”

Wayzz shook her finger and turned to Trixx. “Ha! She said I’m cool.”

Trixx sighed and wore a mischievous grin. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, mister cool guy kwami. Oh, by the way, I’m Trixx.” The kwami took a magnificent bow, and Nino followed in his footsteps.

“Well, Alya--” a terrifyingly loud explosion interrupted Nino mid sentence, and he groaned. “Two in a day is cheating, Hawkmoth!”

Alya’s face lit up. “Hey! Perfect opportunity to transform together, don’t ‘cha think?

Nino contemplated the matter and nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good. But first, we should find somewhere we can transform safely.”

Alya nodded. “Alright. Let’s go.”

The two of them half-jogged over to an alleyway close to the park, and as they stepped inside, Nino realized that this was the same alleyway he had gotten his Miraculous in that morning.

“Do you want to transform first?” Alya asked politely, obviously excited to witness the magic that was about to happen.

“Uh, yeah, sure.”  _ I don’t think I’m ready. Not ready. This is weird. I’m a superhero. HHHHHHHHHH. _

Wayzz twirled through the air from Nino’s cap and gave the boy a reassuring grin. “Are you ready, Nino?”

Nino sighed. “Ready as I’ll ever be. Wayzz… shell on.” The same energy as before washed over him, his clothing seeming to melt together and his glasses morphing to wrap around the back of his head. Nino, now Carapace, breathed in new life, and opened his eyes to a very excited Alya.

“Woaaah! Your transformation was amazing! You were like… you know Voltron? It’s like the scene where they all come together to form Voltron, and all of the parts are like machinery and they all fit together perfectly. Like that, but magic.” Alya got an idea. “Oooh! What does my profile look like right now?”

Carapace raised an eyebrow. “I told you about profiles, it’s like stats and your name. That’s pretty much it when you’re transformed.” Still, he glanced at her profile floating to her left.

**Name: Alya Cesaire**

**Hero Identity: Rena Rouge**

**Miraculous: Fox of Illusion**

**Attack: 17**

**Defense: 11**

**Luck: 73%**

**Health: 24**

**Knowledge: 82%**

**Magic: 7**

_ That’s weird, her magic and knowledge stats didn’t change. _

**_Nino, if I may contribute, the fact that her magic level is the same while not transformed means that she may have potential for magic without the miraculous._ **

“Hey, Carapace, you ready to watch?” Alya’s voice snapped Nino out of his thoughts.

“Oh, uh, yeah! Do your thing.”

“Alright, but you’re gonna want to see this.” Alya cleared her throat before she exclaimed, “Trixx, let’s pounce!”

Watching the transformation from an outside perspective was completely different than transforming himself. Alya first pulled her hands over her face to create her mask. The next action seemed to hint at her potential for magic: as soon as Alya lifted her arm, a circle of orange light appeared over her head. As she swept her hand down, the circle followed, creating her suit and tying up her hair, before stopping at her feet. Alya tapped the top of her head and, her hands flowing like silk, pulled up to reveal two fox ears. She pushed her hands behind her, creating her cape-like tail, then struck a pose.

“Ta-da!” Alya, now Rena Rouge, bowed in the likeness of a circus ringleader. “Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week.”

Carapace beamed. “That was awesome! Oh, hey, earlier, you mentioned that you can see through illusions, how does that work?”

Rena Rouge put her hand to her chin, in deep contemplation, then her face lit up. “Well, it’s like instinct. Like, I look at you right now, and there’s just that instinct in me that says, ‘oh, that’s Nino.’ It’s almost like… I don’t see your goggles. I mean, I do see your goggles, yeah, but it’s like, I can see your face without them, y’know?”

Carapace nodded. “That makes sense.” Another explosion, like the one from earlier, sounded and reminded the heroes of their mission. “Well, Rena, you ready to head out?”

“I’m always ready, Shelly.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The akuma is faced and taken down, plus some serious shit goes down. Prepare yourself for angst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so this took a long time for me to actually complete because i was p stressed and depressed and also just generally unmotivated and not feeling to great about what i do so uhhhhh i just finished this and its 1:30 am and i have to finish my homework still so wish me luck yall
> 
> this chapter is thicc

Carapace and Rena Rouge were the first heroes on the scene, touching down to the ground with a passion unbridled. Carapace looked around to examine the scene when…

_ Oh shit. _ A lime green outline of a person told Carapace that Adrien was hiding inside an alleyway in front of him.  _ Okay, this is totally fine, we can fix this, but we have to get him out. _

**_Nino, there’s an entrance if you get on top of that building and jump in from there._ **

_ Good thinking, Wayzz. _

“Okay, Rena, we have a bit of a problem,” Carapace began as Rena turned to him. 

“Yeah, I was gonna say the same thing. Umm, well,” Rena massaged her temples as she breathed heavily. “Okay, so Marinette is trapped behind a big pile of rubble and we need to get her out of here.”

“I can use my shield to lift the rubble, but another problem, Adrien’s in an alleyway right by the akuma. He needs to get out, like,  _ right now. _ ”

Rena’s eyes flashed with worry. “What? Okay, so it’s decided you’re getting Marinette out, I’ll get Adrien out, and we’ll meet back here in five. If you use your power, make sure you recharge.”

Carapace smiled. “This is why you’re my girlfriend, you’re so smart.”

Rena smirked. “Well, unfortunately, I need to know where Adrien is to pick him up.”

“Oh yeah.” Carapace pointed Rena in the right direction, and she saluted her thanks as she leapt away to save her friend.  _ Time to get LB _ .

Carapace jumped onto his shield and soared into the sky, looking for where Marinette could be trapped, when he saw an outline of red.  _ There. _ Carapace’s shield angled towards the ground where his friend’s leg seemed to be caught under a pile of smashed concrete.

Marinette turned to look at the whooshing of air coming towards her and smiled graciously. “Carapace! Thank goodness!”

“The one and only,” Carapace smirked. “Looks like you’re between a rock and a hard place right now.”

Marinette glared at Carapace. “Really? You too?”

“Yeah, what can I say? I’ve been talking to Chat too much.” Carapace’s eyes were drawn to the ever-nearing sunset, shining golden light on brick walls and on tired eyes. “We gotta get out of here.”

“Yeah, I would agree, except for the fact that--” Marinette stopped and pointed to her leg. “I can’t walk.”

“Okay, yeah, I can get you out.” Carapace’s gaze shifted to a glowing red ball in Marinette’s purse.  _ Wayzz? What’s that glowing thing happening on my radar? _

**_That’s Tikki, Marinette’s kwami._ **

_ We should help her, too. _

**_Well, I respect  your decision greatly, Nino, but make sure you go about this wisely._ **

Carapace nodded. “Okay, make sure your stuff stays safe, don’t want anything to get smushed.” Marinette nodded, and Carapace began to use his shield to scoop pieces of concrete from the ground and move them a few feet away. When he was done, he saw that Marinette’s leg was bleeding profusely.

“Oh, holy shit, we need to get that fixed!” Carapace began to freak out.  _ This looks really bad and painful oh fuck there’s blood everywhere fuck fuck fUCK. _ Through Carapace’s internal screaming about  _ oh fuck she’s fucking bLEEDING _ , Marinette’s face was calm during the whole endeavor.

Marinette looked down at her injured leg. “Huh. I guess I’m bleeding.”

“Wow,  _ really? _ Are you? I couldn’t tell.” Carapace took a deep breath. “Okay, you know what? I’m gonna carry you to your house, you’re gonna get that leg some rest, and you’re  _ not _ going to jump into the battle.”

Marinette’s eyes widened before she played off her panic. “Whaaaat? Why would I join a battle? That’s stupid.” Carapace only deadpanned back at her and she seemed to receive the memo, but only said, “I-I won’t. Not until I’m healed.”

“Okay. I’m gonna pick you up now.” Carapace threw his shield to the ground and it hovered expectantly as he lifted Marinette princess-style. “You ready?”

Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck and nodded. “Yeah, do you know the way to my place?”

“Are you kidding? How could I not?” Carapace exclaimed before realizing that Marinette didn’t know his identity. He backtracked. “I mean, uh, your parents have the best bakery in Paris, I’ve been there more times than I can count.” He sighed internally.  _ Close, but I’ll tell her later. _

Marinette nodded, as if she was going to make some sarcastic remark about “sure you know the way” before her face suddenly paled. “Um, we should probably hurry, I’m feeling a little lightheaded.”

Carapace jumped onto his shield. “Hold on tight, dudette, this is gonna be a wild ride.”

Carapace was right, it  _ was _ a wild ride. He had made sure to stay off the ground, but now that he was looking around, it was a good decision to make. River water that seemed to be glowing green oozed from cracks in sidewalks, and those touched by it were forced into white cloaks and made translucent. In the middle of it all, floating along the street amidst the chaos, was a masculine figure wearing a flowing black cape that seemed to swirl off of him like fog. He carried a scythe with what seemed like too much pride, and the glowing green water followed him wherever he stepped.

The akuma lifted his arms to the sky. “I will rebuild the Greek pantheon! Starting with…” the akuma glanced around and pointed. “...you.” Carapace turned to look and--  _ oh shit _ . The akuma was pointing at Rena Rouge. “You shall be my Persephone, my sweet.”

“What the  _ fuck?! _ ” Rena grimaced. “I’m not old enough to get married yet, and I don’t think my parents would approve.”

Marinette looked down on the scene below with wide, worried eyes. “Is Rena Rouge going to be okay?” she whimpered. The akuma was saying something else, but Carapace couldn’t hear him, but the akuma looked highly confused. Rena nodded, and spoke to the akuma rationally, but Carapace was too far away to hear.

Carapace’s chest tightened, his heart thumping vigorously. “I hope so. But after I drop you off, I’ll go and help. Looks like she needs some serious backup.” Carapace accelerated, soaring through Paris and searching for Marinette’s balcony, when he noticed something in the corner of his vision. A red circle appeared with a white exclamation point inside.  _ Hey, Wayzz? _

**_Yes, Nino?_ **

_ What’s that thing? _

**_Each generation of Turtle hero has a layout of vision that helps them interpret the information that they take in using the goggles. For you, it appears to be a video game menu, and so this is your list of objectives._ **

Carapace looked down at the exclamation point and willed it to open, and just like that, it did.

**“Get Marinette home -- 25 EXP”**

_ If there’s EXP, then that means that I can level up… right? _

**_Technically correct. However, the process of “levelling up” takes weeks of meditation and control._ **

_ I can tackle that challenge, I think. _

**_Then as soon as this battle is over, we shall begin. I know someone who can help you. Now, back to the task at hand._ **

Carapace focused on where he was headed and with just a blink realized that the balcony was in front of him. Carapace steered to avoid hitting it and slowed to a stop before landing on the balcony itself. “Here we are. Thanks for choosing Carapace delivery service.”

Marinette smiled and hopped down, wincing. “Ooh, that hurts. Um, do you think you can take me over to that chair?” She pointed to a lawn chair sitting under an umbrella on the balcony.

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Carapace nodded and held his hand out to support Marinette as she hobbled over to the seat. Once she sat down, Carapace turned to her and said, “Don’t join the battle. I can do the cure, your leg will be fixed,  _ then _ you can come and purify the akuma.”

Marinette’s eyes widen. “How--”

“Superhero perks.” Carapace shrugged. “Rena and I know each other’s identities, and I know who everyone on the team is, so… yeah. You’re fine, I won’t tell.”

The girl contemplated her options, then nodded. “Okay. Okay, that’s fine. Be careful, though, don’t let the water touch you. I saw what it did to some other people, and they got turned into unwilling minions.”

“The water…”  _ Oh shit. Adrien and Rena don’t know _ . “Look, Mari, I gotta get back to the battle, but whatever you do,  _ don’t join the fucking battle. _ And make sure to apply pressure to the bleeding.” Carapace threw his shield off the roof then leapt, landing on the hovering shell and zipping away. He couldn’t see Marinette’s shocked face of realization as he left, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t let his friends get taken, no matter the cost.

* * *

Carapace made sure to stay on his shield as he made his way to the ground.  _ Fuck. Fuck. I hate this akuma so fucking much. I just want to fucking sleep. _ Carapace looked around hurriedly to find Rena Rouge speaking to the akuma.

“So, you’re like a modern Charon?” she asked him.

“Well, kinda,” the akuma answered, obviously very distracted. “My name is actually Pick-Up-Styx, ‘cause y’know, I can pick up the Seine, which I’m planning to make the new River Styx.”

Rena Rouge smiled in awe. “That’s actually a really clever name! Nice job!”

“Oh, thanks! Hawkmoth picked it out for me.” Upon saying the villain’s name, Pick-Up-Styx remembered his prior mission. “Oh yeah, Hawkmoth. Look, I’m really sorry to cut this conversation short, but I really need to get your miraculous.” Pick-Up-Styx hauled his scythe over his head and the water began to squirm and take shape into a long tendril of… substance.

“Rena! Don’t let it touch you!” Carapace shouted. Rena Rouge nodded, processing the information immediately, and jumped as high as she could, floating for a second. Carapace felt short of breath, but shook his panic away as he zoomed over to Rena, catching her in his arms and soaring over to a rooftop and setting her down.

“That’s two girls I’ve carried bridal-style today,” Carapace muttered.

Rena Rouge bent over and put her hands on her knees, obviously weak. “Fuck. That jump took a lot out of me.” The fox took a deep breath before standing back up. “What do we do?”

Carapace began examining Pick-Up-Styx as the akuma searched for where the heroes went, and quickly found where the akuma was hidden.  _ The scythe. _

**_All you need to do is get the scythe_ ** **away** **_from Pick-Up-Styx. That is your end goal, so have that in mind as you plan._ **

Carapace nodded, formulating a plan in his head, and his face lit up. “Got it.”

“What?” Rena fidgeted with her flute, tapping along its wood-like surface and twirling it in her hands.

“The akuma is in the scythe, so all we have to do is get the scythe away from him. For that, we can use an illusion of some kind, something about the Greek gods maybe. Then while he’s distracted, we… get the scythe. Somehow.”

“Well, how?”

“I haven’t worked that part out yet, but we can think about it later. You’re able to make two illusions at a time, right?”

Rena Rouge nodded. “I think I see where you’re going with this, but just to double check, you want me to cloak you  _ and _ create a distraction.”

Carapace pointed a finger-gun at Rena Rouge, grinning. “That’s why you’re on the team, Rena!”

Rena flipped her ponytail and smirked. “I’m just a big ol’ smartypants,” she retorted.

“You sure are. Now let’s get this bread!” Carapace leapt from the roof and threw his shield, landing on it in midair. He could hear flute music from behind him, and knew that Rena was doing her thing.

“Scythe, but go off, I guess,” Rena’s illusion responded, appearing on Carapace’s shield in a puff of orange smoke.

The plan to defeat Pick-Up-Styx was clear: distract him long enough to hold a conversation with Fake!Rena, then while he was preoccupied, Carapace would ride over on his shield and take the scythe straight from his hand. First was the hard part, the distraction. Fake!Rena jumped off of Carapace’s shield and Carapace heard a soft melody in his ear that meant he was invisible.

Fake!Rena landed in front of Pick-Up-Styx with a devilish grin. “Hey, man! It’s me again!”

“Oh!” Pick-Up-Styx enthused. “You’re back! I really would like to have a conversation right now, but I really can’t. Y’see, Hawkmoth wants me to get all of the miraculouses for him, and if I don’t, then I have no idea what happens, but it’s probably bad.”

“Hold up, hold up,” Fake!Rena insisted, her hands held up. “Why would he do something bad if you’re fighting  _ for _ him right now? That’s just bad teamwork!”

“Well--” Pick-Up-Styx was cut off by the glowing butterfly symbol appearing in front of his face meaning Hawkmoth was communicating with him. Pick-Up-Styx fell to his knees and shot his hands up to his ears, screaming in pain.

Carapace couldn’t move. Hawkmoth was manipulating this man to the point of putting the man behind the facade of Pick-Up-Styx in physical pain.  _ What the fuck does Hawkmoth think he’s doing? I knew he was a villain, but holy shit. _ Fake!Rena looked back to where Carapace floated, transparent, and gestured for him to take the scythe, but he couldn’t do it. Carapace’s thoughts started speeding up, his chest pounding and his breath becoming shallow. His heart panged, as if he had been punched in the emotions, and Carapace could barely take watching, but even so, he couldn’t pull his eyes away. He couldn’t bear to watch, and yet… there was no way he could stop. He felt trapped inside of his own body, helpless inside a sack of flesh and bones that would die very, very soon in the grand scheme of everything. He wouldn’t be able to make a difference, just look at how he’s handling the akumas! He was a failure, a disappoint--

**_Nino. Nino. Breathe. Inhale for four seconds. Hold your breath for seven seconds, exhale for eight seconds, okay? Breathe._ **

Carapace snapped out of his thoughts. He didn’t have time for an anxiety attack, dammit, he had to… he… had to….

**_Nino. It’s alright. I’m here with you, and will stay with you. Stay with me, alright?_ **

Carapace took a silent breath in and began to edge closer to Pick-Up-Styx, who was still writhing in pain. He could do this. He could save Paris. Carapace reached out, his breath shallow, and his fingertips grazed the scythe before--

“Ow!” Carapace muttered. The scythe was hot--no, cold. Painfully cold to the touch. Pick-Up-Styx turned on Carapace, the glamour wearing off of him.

“I knew something here was fishy,” Pick-Up-Styx growled.

“Well, I’m actually a turtle, but I appreciate your effort,” Carapace retorted, soaring away. Carapace tapped a panel on his shield and a view of Rena Rouge appeared in his vision. “New plan! We can’t touch the scythe, either.”

“I’m coming in there! I can knock it down with my flute.”

“No! The ground is too dangerous! The water is everywhere!”

“Well, what does the water actually do?” Rena yelled, running towards the scene, jumping on the rooftops. “It must not be that dangerous if it hasn’t gotten us yet.”

Carapace looked around before his eye landed on something and his breath stopped. It looked like they were about to find out. “Adrien!” He shouted, trying to get the boy’s attention.

“Adrien?” Rena asked, before looking at the boy on the ground. “Oh no. Adrien.”

Adrien was standing on top of a floating dumpster, keeping away from the rising water, but he wasn’t safe for long.

“Adrien!” Carapace shouted once more. The boy looked up at the hero, panic in his eyes. “Don’t let the water touch you! I’m on my way!”

Carapace could tell from Adrien’s profile that he was panicking. He was out in the open, with nowhere to transform and nobody close enough to save him. Pick-Up-Styx turned to the dumpster and grinned malevolently.

“Oh, so you care about this boy here, do you?” He asked, voice full of malice.

“ _ Don’t touch him! _ ” Carapace shouted, dodging tendrils of corrupted water and stolen people. Adrien turned up to Carapace and gave him a knowing look. In Carapace’s vision, a phrase popped up next to Adrien.

**“It’s okay. I’ll be fine.”**

“No, Adrien, it’s not oh-fucking-kay!” Carapace responded. Adrien seemed shocked that Carapace knew what he was thinking, but didn’t question the matter. The water kept rising around Adrien, it had come over the top of the dumpster now and was climbing up Adrien’s leg.

“ _ Stop! _ ” Carapace cried.

“Well, I’d love to, but I have a pantheon to rebuild,” Pick-Up-Styx responded in a honeyed voice. “Sorry, kid.” Adrien turned to Carapace, his eyes full of fear, and gave him a solemn nod. With the swing of his scythe, Pick-Up-Styx fully covered Adrien in the corrupted water.

“ _ NO! _ ” Carapace cried out, tears streaming down his face. “Stop!  _ Please _ ! Why do you have to do this?!”

Pick-Up-Styx chuckled at the question. “Well, Hawkmoth wants the miraculouses, so that’s part of what I’m doing.”

“Why would you--” Carapace turned to look at the dumpster, tears blurring his vision, but he could have  _ sworn _ that he saw Adrien still there, just… transparent. The tears came down harder.

_ Wayzz, I can see him. I can see him! _

**_Well, he is still there, after all. The goggles allow you to see him, but nobody else can._ **

_ Wait, we can incorporate him into the plan. We can communicate, like earlier. Will it work both ways? _

**_Good thinking, Nino. You should be able to send him messages through your thoughts, but he might not pick up that you’re the one sending them; he may just think that they’re his own._ **

Carapace wiped his tears and faced Pick-Up-Styx. “You’re going to pay for this, Hawkmoth.” Carapace rode his shield over to the dumpster where Adrien was standing, unable to communicate with anyone, unable to be seen by anyone except Carapace. The hero quickly gestured for Adrien to get onto the shield, and Adrien scampered up next to Carapace. The hero steered them away from the water and onto the rooftop where Rena Rouge was looking on, tears streaming down her face.

“Rena,” Carapace began, “this is gonna sound insane, but Adrien’s okay. Mostly. He either died or just got turned into a ghost, I’m not sure, but I can see him and he’s here.”

Rena clapped a hand to her mouth to cover her sobs. “Really? He’s okay?”

Carapace smiled. “Yeah, I can see him through my goggles. He’s… he’s fine. Just a little dead, that’s all.” At this, Adrien laughed, but Nino couldn’t hear him.

“Oh my god!” Rena exclaimed. “I could hear him!” She pointed to the fox ears. “Oh my god, I was so worried, but… okay. He’s okay. We’re all going to be okay.”

Adrien turned to Carapace, and once again, Carapace could see a message next to Adrien’s head. 

**“Should I tell her that I’m Chat?”**

Carapace considered the question, then nodded.  _ It’s your choice, buddy, _ he tried thinking to Adrien, hoping that the conversation would work in both directions. It seemed to have work, because Adrien looked down for a second before turning to Rena Rouge and speaking something Carapace couldn’t hear. Tears welled up in Rena’s eyes and she nodded.

“Um, so Adrien just told me… something.”

Carapace nodded. “Yeah.”

“About the whole…”

“Yeah.”

“I’m guessing you already knew, what with the…” Rena waved her hand to imply what she would have said, and Carapace knew exactly what she meant.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, so that’s  _ two _ of my friends who are also superheroes. Next thing you know, Ma--”

“Aaaaah,” Carapace began. “You should  _ probably _ not say that, y’know, just in case.”

“Oh, yeah, forgot that Adrien doesn’t know my identity.” A beep coming from Rena’s miraculous broke through the silence. “Okay, well, it looks like he will in just a second, so that’s uhh… fun.”

Carapace sighed in frustration.  _ This akuma is the toughest I’ve ever seen, and we don’t have Ladybug or Chat Noir. _

**_Well, Nino, you may not have Chat Noir, but you do have Adrien, and he can give you an advantage in the fight._ **

Carapace blinked.  _ Oh. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense! _

“Hey, Carapace, I’m about to detransform, let’s get somewhere that’s not a rooftop,” Rena interrupted.

“Got it.” Carapace willed for his shield to expand in size and it did, with enough space for three people. “Get on, everyone, we’re going on a field trip.”

Rena Rouge stepped onto the shield with ease and sat down with her legs crossed. She smiled. “Please let this be a normal field trip.”

Adrien smiled a devilish grin and got onto the shield behind Rena, obviously thinking about teasing Carapace later. A message popped up in Carapace’s vision.

**“With this akuma? No way!”**

Carapace chuckled, and turned to Rena, who was laughing as well. “Alright, let’s get cruisin’ down on main street.”

Rena looked down in mock sadness. “I don’t remember the rest of the words.” She wiped an imaginary tear off of her face. “This is so sad. Adrien…”

At this, Adrien turned his head to Rena and seemed confused. The message  **“Yeah?”** appeared in front of him.

Rena smirked sinisterly. “...play Despacito.” At that moment, another beep from her miraculous that seemed to mimic the first chord of the song, and everyone burst into laughter.

“ _ Oh my god! _ ” Carapace enthused. “That was beautiful. Ten outta ten.”

Adrien was clutching his stomach in laughter.  **“Cursed song!** **_Cursed_ ** **!”**

Carapace jumped as a large crashing sound came from across the street. “Oh shit, I kinda forgot about the akuma. Uhhhh, let’s go... _ nowbeforeRenatransformsbackaaaah _ !!” The shield, now carrying three superheroes (two in costume, one dead), zipped across the rooftops until getting to a courtyard not yet filled with water. Carapace touched down and made sure the coast was clear before nodding, and Rena’s transformation released to reveal a tired and anxious Alya.

Adrien squinted, contemplating the situation, then nodded.  **“Actually, that makes sense. I don’t know who I was expecting.”**

“Oh shit!” Alya exclaimed. “Shelly, I can still hear him.”

Carapace furrowed his eyebrows. “Huh.”  _ This sounds like magic without transformation if I’ve ever seen it. _ “That’s pretty cool!”

Adrien nodded.  **“Yeah, I’ve never been able to do anything cool and magical out of costume.”**

Alya paced up to the two boys and sighed. “Do we have a plan?”

Carapace nodded. “I think I have the start of one.”

* * *

One complicated plan later, the akuma’s curse was lifted, and a green light once again washed over the cty, repairing both physical and mental damage. Pick-Up-Styx fell to his knees and the dark energy washed over him, undoing itself, and the akuma fluttered away. Rena and Carapace shared a knowing glance, and the fox ran off to hold the akuma for the time being. Carapace stepped over to the man who used to be Pick-Up-Styx, his beige turtleneck wrinkled and his glasses crooked on his face.

“Uh-hey.” Carapace offered his hand. The man took it, and stood up. “Are you doin’ okay?”

The man nodded. “I think so.” Carapace was able to see the man’s profile, and learned instantly that the man was a historian with a passion for Ancient Greek mythology. He had presented a thesis paper about the subject, but midway through, had a major panic attack and wasn’t accepted. Just seeing the man’s profile filled Carapace with sadness. The man was depressed, anxious, and felt as if he could never do anything right.  _ Hawkmoth, you piece of shit.  _

“Are you sure, mister?” Carapace held the man’s hand tighter, in a way that communicated that he was always there to talk to. “If you’re ever in a situation where… you don’t feel, good, or something, you can always contact one of us. Even if you think it’s nothing, one of us will answer the call.”

“We have some connections through the Ladyblog,” Rena announced, having shoved the akuma inside of her flute. “I’ll ask the girl who runs it to add a ‘hero emergency’ function. We can use it for akuma attacks, other emergencies, or even if someone just needs a person to talk to.”

The man looked relieved, almost as if he was about to cry. “I… thank you. So much. This really means a lot.” He smiled, and pulled out his phone to check his messages. The man’s face softened. “I have to go, my husband’s waiting on me, but thank you so much.”

“No prob!”

“It’s our job,” Carapace rhymed.

“Wow, I might sob!” Ladybug added, zipping in on her yo-yo. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it, I got seriously injured and  _ someone _ told me not to join the fight.”

“There was a big  _ blob _ of blood gushing from your leg, Ladybug,” Carapace joked, then cringed. “Not my best.”

“Yeah, yeah, I couldn’t even reach the door _ knob, _ ” Ladybug continued, smiling wide.

“Okay, that’s enough, you two,” Rena grinned, softly nudging the two apart. “Those weren’t that good. And anyways, we’ve got an akuma to purify.” Rena looked down at her flute for a second, her eyebrows furrowing. Her eyes lit up, and she turned to Ladybug. “Be ready to catch it, okay?”

“What?”

Carapace smirked. “I’ll catch it, you purify, okay?”

Ladybug looked between the two of them with pure and utter confusion across her face. “ _ What? _ ”

“Now!” Rena Rouge inhaled deeply and pushed air into her flute. The akuma inside was stuck for a bit, but after another breath and blow, the akuma came shooting out of the other end. Carapace held his shield up like a baseball glove and quickly scooped the akuma out of the air and passed his shield to Ladybug, who now understood exactly what was going on.

Ladybug glided her pointer finger over her yoyo's surface and the cover seemed to unzip, revealing a circle of glowing light. She swung the yoyo around, getting the momentum going, and yelled, “Time to de-evilize!” Ladybug threw the yoyo like a lasso, and the circle of light stuck to the akuma. The yoyo pulled back to Ladybug and the surface closed. “Gotcha!”

Carapace smiled, watching the scene unfold.  _ It feels like there should be some kind of dramatic music here or something. I should mix that.  _

Ladybug tapped the top of her yo-yo once more and it opened to reveal a pure white butterfly that fluttered into the distance. She waved to it a bit, and whispered to herself, “bye bye, little butterfly.” Just as the butterfly floated out of sight, cameras started flashing and reporters started chattering.

“Ladybug! Where were you in today’s attack?”

“Ladybug! Who are you under the mask?”

“Rena Rouge! How did you fend off the akuma for so long?”

Carapace’s eyes widened.  _ Well shit. _ It hadn’t occurred to him previously that he was now a celebrity, and in being a celebrity, you get interviewed by a lot of critical people with cameras. He turned to Ladybug. “Hey, LB, I’m gonna check on some of the citizens real quick, I’ll catch up with you later.”

Ladybug smiled. “See you then, Carapace.” She extended her hand for a fist bump, and Carapace did so (as any proper bro would).

“Pound it!” The two said in unison, cameras flashing.

“See ya later, Rena!” Carapace waved as he sprinted off.

“Bye, shelly!” The reporters’ chatter grew, and the cameras clicked vigorously. Carapace threw his shield down and zipped away into the sky, letting his breath and his panic go.  _ I have to go find Adrien, I need to make sure he’s okay. _

“Hey, Carapace!” a voice came from below. Carapace stopped and turned his head to look at the source.  _ Speak of the devil. _ It was Adrien, safe, sound, and smiling wide.

Carapace lowered his shield to the ground and hopped off. “Are you okay?”

“Never better!”

“I would disagree, you literally just  _ died, _ ” Carapace insisted. “Are you  _ sure _ you’re okay?”

Adrien’s grin turned into a contemplative expression that seemed almost sad. “Well, my legs are sore, and I have a really bad headache, so that’s not too great. But, y’know, I’m alive.”

Carapace sighed and shook his head. “Okay, I’ll take you home.”

“What?”

“You heard me, young man.” Carapace looked to the boy with a devilish grin. “No transforming with that headache. It’s time to get aboard the Carapace train.”

Adrien laughed, pure joy spreading across his face. “ _ Oh my god! _ You nerd!”

Carapace held his arms up. “We can do this the  _ easy _ way, or the  _ hard _ way.”

“Well, what’s the hard way?” Adrien teased.

“This.” Carapace scooped up Adrien in his arms, bridal style, and stepped onto the shield. “Carapace style! Booyah!”

Adrien snorted. “You  _ dork! _ ”

“What can I say? I learned from the best.” Carapace stepped onto his hovering shield and began to zoom down the sidewalk, Adrien in his arms. Along the way, they passed countless stores and civilians, and Adrien waved to every person he saw. The gate to the Agreste estate was growing closer with every second, and Carapace slowed down and eventually stopped in front of the key pad. The turtle set Adrien lightly to the ground, and turned to the doorbell. He pressed the button, and the camera extended.

“Name?” The camera’s speaker said monotonously.

“Hey, I’m Carapace, just dropping off Adrien after the akuma attack. Is it alright if I come in?”

“Noted. Opening the gates.” The camera zipped back inside the wall and the large metal gates squeaked open. 

Adrien turned to Carapace with a cheesy grin. “What a gentleman, you’re walking me in?”

“Of course, man! Gotta make sure everything’s okay, and make sure that Nathalie knows you’re safe.” Carapace faced Adrien with a smile, and Adrien nodded. The two walked to the door together. As they arrived at the door, Adrien tapped numbers into a keypad, and the front door opened, revealing the main foyer.

The inside of the house was a monochrome gray that seemed to sadden anyone who walked in. At the top of the staircase in front of the door stood Gabriel, Adrien’s father. In Carapace’s vision, a notification for a completed quest popped up. He subtly glanced towards it, and felt his chest tighten.  _ Oh no. No, no, no. _

**Discover Hawkmoth’s Identity -- 250 EXP**

Carapace faced Gabriel and swallowed his panic. “Um, hello, Mr. Agreste. I just came in to say that, uh, Adrien is safe now, and out of harm’s way. The akuma attack was close to his photoshoot, he must have gotten caught up in it.”

Gabriel turned his nose up at the hero and raised an eyebrow. “Yes, well, thank you for protecting my son. Now, Nathalie, if you could escort him out?” The designer’s voice was filled with pure malice and contempt. Carapace wondered how he didn’t see it sooner.

“Yes, Mr. Agreste.” The woman holding the tablet strode over to Carapace with a determination that seemed numb and rehearsed.

“Oh, um, that’s fine, I can just…” Carapace pointed towards the door in a moment of panic. “...yeah. Hey, Adrien, make sure you stay safe, alright?”

Adrien nodded, a sad grin on his face. “Yeah, of course, Carapace.”

The turtle hero nodded and prepared his shield to leave. He turned back to face Adrien once more before leaving the cold manor as quickly as he could. He had to tell someone. Someone had to know what he did, he didn’t really care who. He couldn’t let this knowledge plague him any longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i did it yall  
> we did some angst  
> ok see you in like 5 months when i write the next chapter


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #LetNinoCry2018

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in this fic we ignore how zag handled chloe revealing her identity to the entire city  
> also idk if i'm super satisfied with the ending of the chapter, and the flow and stuff, but i guess it's good?? i can't tell. please help.
> 
> this chapter is dedicated to universeEnthusiast because ninette interactions and also she called me a treasure so asfjhasldkfjh thank

Nino spun his office chair in circles, watching his room twirl around him in a blur.  _ Adrien’s dad is Hawkmoth. Adrien is Chat Noir. _

“Nino?” Wayzz floated up to the boy. “Are you alright?”

Nino slowed the chair’s spinning, dragging his feet on the floor. “My best friend’s dad is Hawkmoth, Wayzz. I don’t know who I can tell, but I have to tell someone. If I don’t tell anyone, and Hawkmoth launches a huge attack, I’ll hate myself forever. If I tell someone, they could leak the info to the media or tell Adrien or--”

“Nino.” Wayzz floated to Nino’s open palms and sat. “I completely understand your situation. I know that the previous guardian has been through many situations similar to this one, and most turned out fine. If you want a suggestion, I would recommend telling Ladybug. You already know her in her civilian form, and she knows you. She would also be the best option out of all of the heroes to tell.”

Nino looked down at the small turtle and smiled. “Wayzz, you’re a genius.” Nino lifted one of his hands and gave Wayzz a small pat on the head, to which Wayzz replied with a soft grin. “I’m going to text Marinette.” Wayzz nodded and floated over to Nino’s desk as the boy pulled out his phone. He opened his messages and tapped on Marinette’s username.

 

**ninolxhiffe:** marinette

**breadgirl:** ???

**ninolxhiffe:** i have something insanely important i need to tell you

**breadgirl:** im all ears!! what’s up?

**ninolxhiffe:** it probably shouldnt be on the phone in case it can be tracked

**ninolxhiffe:** can i come over??

**breadgirl:** of course nino!

**breadgirl:** is everything ok?

**ninolxhiffe:** im having an existential crisis :)))))))

**breadgirl:** o o f

**ninolxhiffe:** ok im on my way over

 

Nino chuckled to himself.  _ More like I’m on my Wayzz over. _ “Hey, Wayzz, you ready to go?”

Wayzz stretched his arms and nodded. “Whenever you’re ready, Nino.”

Nino quickly typed on his phone to tell his parents that he had a “group project” with Marinette that he needed to go to her house for before nodding and adjusting his cap. “Is there any way I’m able to add those, uh, fancy moves to the transformation?”

“Of course!” Wayzz floated up by Nino’s face and gave him a reassuring look. “Just think of the movements you want incorporated, and they will be.”

“Nice!” Nino cleared his throat and shook away his fear. “Alright… Wayzz, shell on!”

This transformation was different than all the transformations prior. While the magic had previously been soothing, this energy was more electric and filled Nino with a newfound energy. Nino pushed his right arm away from him and the magic followed, coating it in his magical attire. He kept his arm in that position, willing the magic to flow back down his arm and it did, spinning him around and flowing down his torso, legs, and ending at his feet. Nino spun once more and came down to his back, where he spun until he knew the magic had formed his shield. He pushed down, caught himself, and sprung back to his feet. He pulled what was seemingly empty space from the nape of his neck up, forming the hood of his outfit, and the goggles formed themselves with a flick. After contemplating how to end the transformation, Nino decided to simply cross his arms and strike a pose. The magic dissipated and Nino, now Carapace, was satisfied with the sequence.

“Nice,” he commented.

**_I’ve never seen anything so uniquely capture your essence! Great work._ **

Carapace blushed. _ Aww, Wayzz, you sweetheart.  _ The hero opened up his bedroom window and climbed out onto the roof of the outside patio. He threw his shield into the air and jumped onto it, floating in the air, before turning around to close the window. His parents would be suspicious if they came home from their date to see an open window.

Carapace dusted his hands off (even though there was no dust) and began to glide towards Marinette’s balcony. His heart felt heavy with the knowledge that he carried, and he wondered just how much he would be able to say without bursting into tears.  _ I’m betting three minutes. What do you think, Wayzz? _

**_You can handle the situation well, regardless of your emotions. That being said, two minutes._ **

Carapace chuckled in the darkness, soaring over the rooftops and dancing in the starlight. As he came to Marinette’s balcony, he came to an abrupt stop.  _ Should I go in transformed? _

**_I think that would be the most direct way to confirm her suspicions of you being Carapace to detransform in the room with her. That way, there would be no need for me to recharge while you were there._ **

_ Wayzz, I know I just said this, but you’re a genius.  _ The hero slowly floated over to the balcony and jumped off of his shield, catching it in his arms as he landed. The trapdoor next to the lawn chair began to glow and it opened, revealing Marinette in her pajamas using her phone as a flashlight.

Carapace grinned awkwardly. “Uh, hey, Marinette, I’m here now. I, uh… have some news.”

Marinette gave a comforting smile. “Come on in!” She ducked down and held the trapdoor open with her hand. Carapace took a deep breath and slid down from the floor of the balcony onto Marinette’s bed.

“So…” Carapace gulped.  _ Here goes nothing. _ “I’m guessing you already know why I’m here. And if not, then you should be acting more surprised right now.”

Marinette nodded. “Well, I know who you are, but what you have to tell me, I have no clue.”

Carapace sighed in relief. “Okay. Wayzz, shell off.” The wave of green energy again, but faster. It started at his feet and zipped up over him, undoing the transformation and revealing Wayzz, who flew about in a circle before stopping, a little dizzy.

Wayzz smiled at the young girl in front of him “Greetings, Marinette! It’s been quite a while since our last meeting.”

“Yeah, it has!” Marinette exclaimed. “So, why are you two here?”

Nino took a deep breath and could already feel the tears pricking at his eyes. “Okay, so I learned something… interesting earlier. And… I think you’re the best person to tell, you and…” Nino paused. “What’s your kwami’s name?”

Marinette’s eyes widened slightly before she looked over to her desk where a red blur dashed out from the drawer. “I think I’ll have her tell you herself.”

The red creature soared up to the bed, doing a few loops, and stopped just before Nino’s face. When his eyes focused, he realized that this was the kwami that Marinette was talking about -- small, red, and with a large black spot on her forehead. Lighter red freckles were dusted underneath her big blue eyes, and motherly grin was spread across her face. “Nino! It’s so great to finally meet you! I’m Tikki.” Tikki turned to the other kwami there and smirked. “And how could I forget my favorite turtle?”

“Oh, Tikki! How lovely to see you again!” Wayzz cried out, pulling Tikki into a warm embrace.

Nino laughed a little before remembering his original task. He cleared his throat and began. “So, Marinette, just… how much do you know about the Miraculouses and their powers? Specifically, the turtle.”

Marinette shrugged. “Basically nothing. All I know is that you have a shield that you can fly on. Why?”

Nino rubbed his eyes, trying to think of a logical way to explain his powers. “Okay, umm… well, imagine a video game interface. You can see character profiles, and there are quests, and health bars, and certain things on the map just… light up, yeah?”

“Yeah. Where are you going with this?” Marinette cocked her head to the side.

“Um, well, that’s one of my powers. That’s something that the goggles give me. I get experience, I have a quest menu, and I can see everyone’s… profiles. Bios. Whatever you want to call it.” Nino gulped and prepared for what he had to say next. “And… today… I saw… someone’s profile. And…”

“Yeah?”

“Let me preface this by asking, uh, do you have any theories on who Hawkmoth is? Because I… kinda know. Who he is. And it’s kinda bad.”

Marinette stared. “You… know who Hawkmoth is.”

Nino nodded, choked up.

“And… it’s bad… oh, Nino, oh no…” Marinette pulled Nino into a warm embrace, and he couldn’t hold back his tears any longer.

“I-I’m really sorry,” Nino choked out.

Marinette shushed him. “You don’t need to apologize for your emotions, Nino. Based on what you’ve told me, this is some rough stuff.”

Nino pulled back and wiped his tears. “O-okay. I think… I think I’m ready to tell you who it is.”

“Whenever you’re ready. I’m not super good at… comforting words, but I’m going to listen to you no matter what.”

Nino sniffled. “Um, have you had any theories on who Hawkmoth might be?”

Marinette pondered. “Yeah, right after the Volpina incident, I thought that he could be Gabriel Agreste, but since he was akumatized, that can’t be--”

“Queen Wasp,” Nino interrupted.

“What?”

Nino gulped. “Before the Queen Wasp incident, when it was just you, Chat, and Rena, none of you had been akumatized or even come close. It made people--including you--think that miraculous holders couldn’t be akumatized. So… who’s to say that he’s--” Nino paused, tears welling up again. “--who’s to say that he’s not…”

Marinette stared. “But based on what I know about the Miraculous, each is resistant to their own magical damage types. Chat can’t Cataclysm himself, Queen Bee doesn’t get hurt by Venom, Rena can see through her Mirage… how would he be able to akumatize himself?”

Nino paused. “Where did you learn about the Miraculous?”

“Adrien, he had a book that Lila stole and threw in the trash, so Tikki got it out and we took it to the Guardian.”

“But Marinette, the next day, he wasn’t at school because the book belonged to his  _ father. _ Wouldn’t Gabriel know this, create the akuma, and then take the Miraculous off?” Nino stopped. “I’m sorry, Marinette, I--”

“Nino. Don’t apologize. I trust you. I was just asking because I hadn’t figured out the process of how The Collector was able to happen.”

He sighed, his anxiety easing up. “Okay, yeah. So, what do we do now?”

Tikki sat down on the blanket beside the two. “Well, I think the best course of action would be to gather as many heroes as possible and begin planning our ambush.”

Wayzz shook his head. “While that is a good plan, we need to unify the five heroes that we have now. We need to make sure that they learn each other's identities to become a closer-knit team, and so that they fully trust each other. Once the five are unified, then we recruit more heroes from the Zodiacs based on which powers will be the most useful in the attack.”

Marinette considered both possibilities before speaking. “Alright. I think Wayzz’s idea of connecting the team as one unit sounds like our best long-term option, but I believe we should add a few of the Zodiacs to our team first and incorporate them into the whole ‘team bonding’ stuff in case we don’t have as much time as we think.”

Nino nodded. “Do you have any ideas of who we would recruit?”

Marinette smiled. “I was thinking of recruiting the students in our class, since we all already know each other so well, but I’m not sure if Chat already knows them--”

“It’s alright, he does,” Nino interrupted. “I’m sure of it.”

“Right. I was also thinking of recruiting three students outside of our class. Luka Couffaine, Kagami Tsurugi, and Marc Anciel.”

“That sounds… really good, actually. I think we have a plan.”

“Alright! Let’s spread the message to the other three. Both of us can talk to Chat, then we can work out who talks to Rena and who talks to Bee.”

“Oh, Marinette, by the way…”

“Yeah?”

“When you tell Chat about Hawkmoth’s identity, um, be… gentle about it. Please.”

Marinette’s brow furrowed. “I will, but is there a reason?”

“Do you think we should do the ‘team bonding’ tonight? Because that would explain everything.”

Marinette paused before taking Nino’s hand in her own. “You seem to know the most about our current… situation. I trust you to take the lead on this one, alright? I’ll gather the group.”

Nino nodded. This was about to be one hell of a night.

* * *

“So, I bet you’re all wondering why you’re here,” Carapace began, the other four heroes circled around him.

“Actually, yeah,” Queen Bee interjected. “Carapace, right?”

“Yeah.” Carapace gave a friendly wave and grin before returning to the matter at hand. “Okay, so I don’t actually know how to explain this, so I borrowed a projector and a screen to give you guys a powerpoint.”

Chat burst out laughing. “That is so  _ you! _ ”

Carapace chuckled, feeling more at ease than before as Rena Rouge struggled to keep her laughter in and Ladybug chuckled softly.

“Okay, but I  _ actually  _ made a powerpoint, and I think it can help to explain what’s happening.” Carapace pulled a clicker out of his pocket and pressed a button that projected the words  _ Why We’re All Fucked _ onto the white screen behind him.

Rena Rouge raised her hand. “Excuse me, Mr. Carapace, but could you elaborate?”

“Gladly!” The turtle hero grinned and advanced to the next slide. Projected on the screen was a stock photo of a very generic-looking person waving. “Now, this is what people normally see when they see someone, right? Right. However, I happen to have some powers that come with these goggles that allow for me to see more.” Carapace clicked a button on his remote and a rectangle appeared next to the man showing a mock profile, health bar, and quest menu. “This,” Carapace began again, “is what I see when I look at a person.”

“Hold on,” Queen Bee interjected. “You mean you see video game stuff wherever you look?”

“Yep.”

“Okay, what does that mean?”

“Well,” Carapace started, “it means that I can see basic info about any person I see. Their emotions, their name, and their stats. Which means when I look at you guys, in or out of suit, I see what miraculous you have and your superhero identity.”

Queen Bee shifted on her feet and bit her lower lip.

Ladybug looked puzzled. “What’s the circle with the exclamation point?”

“That’s my quest menu, or my achievements, I guess. Things I have to do, things I have done.”

“I hate to interrupt, but how do your powers result in us being fucked?” Chat Noir interjected.

“Well…” Carapace advanced to the next slide, which was a flowchart. The first circle read  _ my powers show me profiles, including miraculouses (miraculi? miraculous? moose/meese situation?) _ with an arrow that led to a circle reading  _ i can tell when a person has a certain miraculous. _ This bubble led to another that read  _ i see someone’s profile and they have the butterfly miraculous _ , and the final bubble -- covered in spikes like a comic book exclamation --  _ i know hawkmoth’s identity. _ “...ta-da.”

The heroes stared blankly at the presentation, not knowing what to make of this information.

“Hey, Carapace, is this a theoretical situation, or…?” Rena trailed off.

“Um…” Carapace felt his heart tighten in his chest. “...no. Real situation. That we have. Now.”

“Do any of us have personal ties to him?” Queen Bee murmured.

Carapace fought his instinct to look over to Chat. “Yes. I think all of us know him and have met him face to face. Some of us more than others.”

“So what do we do?” Chat asked.

“My kwami and I have come up with a plan. It was mostly his idea, and Ladybug’s kwami helped, too.” Carapace advanced to the next slide, which read  _ Recreating the Order _ . “Hundreds of years ago, there used to be an Order of Guardians. These were people that took care of the miraculous and distributed them to those that they saw fit. I think that if we rebuild this order, recreate it, we can become a stronger team and learn more about all the fun magic stuff that goes along with the miraculous. There’s so much information, so much knowledge that was lost, but I think with the current Guardian’s help, we can find it again.”

Everyone stared up at Carapace in silent awe. Chat Noir started clapping, slowly at first, then accelerating into applause. Rena Rouge joined in, cheering.

“That’s my boyfriend! That’s my boyfriend, guys!” Rena exclaimed to the heroes around her, pointing to Carapace. “I’m so proud of him!”

Carapace blushed profusely. “Thanks, Rena.”

“Damn,” Queen Bee murmured. “Where can I get a girlfriend that supportive and loving? Like?” She gestured with her hands to indicate everything she could have said next, and made a type of noise that could be represented in writing as “ _askjdfadsflkaj???_ ”.

Ladybug nodded. “I know  _ exactly _ what you mean.”

Carapace nodded and cleared his throat. “Um, thanks, and uh, mood, but I should probably explain the plan more.”

Chat nodded and crossed his legs on the floor. “Continue.”

Carapace stared. “Uh… yeah. So, the plan is to assemble a mini-army of superheroes. We would recruit between two and four new heroes at a time to get them acclimated to their powers and the team and everything, and we all train together. We can rebuild the Guardians  _ with _ them, and we launch a full-scale attack on Hawkmoth. But just before we attack, we all reveal our identities to each other, in case we don’t… make it, someone can tell our families and friends.” Carapace advanced to the next slide which displayed the Chinese zodiac.

“These are the animals that the Zodiacs are based on and the traits that they’re associated with. The best theory here would be to give these based on traits that the people we give them to exhibit or have the potential to exhibit. We can all vote on who gets which and draw their names out of a hat to decide which order they get recruited in.” Carapace turned to the rest of the team. “What do you guys think?”

Queen Bee grinned. “I think that’s a really great idea! How would we go through deciding who gets which miraculous as a group? And once a few of the Zodiacs are recruited, would they join in the recruiting process?”

Carapace nodded. “That’s a good question! I think we could each research a few of these animals and their symbolism, maybe meet the kwamis, and we each nominate a person for that miraculous and we all discuss why we think that they’re fit for it. I’m not sure on that second part, but that’s something that we can decide soon. How about we start tomorrow?”

Each hero nodded, responding with their variant of “yes.” Together, they would build a team, and take down Hawkmoth once and for all.

**Author's Note:**

> Word Count: 3200


End file.
